Method of applying a decorative strip to a shoe



Jan. 29, 1963 v. A. SHERBROOK 3,075,212

METHOD OF APPLYING A DECORATIVE STRIP To A SHOE Filed June 2. 1961 INVENTOR VICTOR A. SHERBROOK yw/m ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 3,075,212 Patented Jan. 29, 1963 3,075,212 METHOD OF APPLYING A DECORATIVE STRIP TO A SHOE Victor A. Sherbrook, Abington, Mass., assignor to Frank Noone Shoe Co., Inc., Rockland, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed June 2, 1961, Ser. No. 114,403 2 Claims. (Cl. 12-142) This invention relates to the application of a decorative strip to shoes and particularly to welt shoes. The decoration involved may be and is here designed to be in simulation of the well known skin stitch or Quantone. This stitch is an expensive hand operation and has been attempted to be imitated widely but no successful imitation of the hand stitching has been made until the invention herein.

An object of the invention resides in the provision of a method of applying a binder strip or similar strip to the upper of a shoe on a last, the shoe having been completely lasted, and wherein the upper is roughened along the wall of the last utilizing the last somewhat in the manner of a gauge by measuring the desired Width of the roughened area from the bottom edge of the last, so that the decorated edge of the binder strip may be placed in a smooth, continuous and even line according to the width of the roughened area which spaces the ornamentation evenly from the welt, thus giving an exact line for the skin stitch imitation or whatever other decoration is used.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a method for decorating a shoe in which the shoe, having been conventionally lasted and prepared for the usual welt which is just about to be put on, is provided with a novel binder strip or the like adjacent one edge of which there is provided an ornamental strip which may be a braid, an extruded plastic ornamental strip, or any representation of the skin stitch or any other similar ornamentation, and this strip applied to the upper of the shoe on the wall of the last; and by the use of this new strip, the line of decoration is evenly measured and exactly spaced from the bottom of the last according to the width of the strip chosen to be used, so that for the first time a good, even decorative strip is provided.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation showing the shoe on the last and the new binder strip and welt strip separated from the upper in order to show the construction and the method;

FIG. 2 is a similar view with parts broken away and illustrating the finished shoe at the toe portion thereof, and

FIG. 3 shows the binding strip.

It should be understood that there are many obstacles in the way of providing a successful imitation of the skin stitch or Quantone efiect. It has long been a problem in the art to provide a successful simulated skin stitch effect. One of the ways in which this has been attempted is to provide a thin decorative strip which simulates the skin stitch and to apply this directly by cement or stitching to the upper of the shoe; but this has never been successful because of the fact that it is impossible to correctly guide such a strip to provide a smooth, even line of this material at the desired location on the upper and such a strip is therefore apt to waver.

In carrying out the present invention, however, a very successful simulation is provided as for instance is herein illustrated in a welt shoe. The decorative strip is applied between the completed lasting of the shoe and the application of the welt and all of the shoe making operations are conventional, i.e., the lasting is conventional, and the applictaion of the welt and the outsole, etc. are conventional. The step of applying the decorative strip is merely inserted between the lasting and the application of the welt strip.

As shown in FIG. 1, the upper generally indicated at 10 is lasted, the last being indicated at 12. Before the welt strip 14 is applied in the usual manner, an area about the toe of the shoe and extending over the complete area upon which the decorative strip is to be applied is roughened, this being indicated at 16. This roughened area extends as far as may be desired and generally from the point shown in FIG. 1 about the toe and to a point on the upper at the opposite side thereof at the shank portion or approximately the distance at the other side of the shoe as that shown in FIG. 1. This roughing step is accomplished by hand or machine, and the roughened area then has applied a heat-sensitive cement applied thereto. Uniformity of width of the roughened area is accomplished by using the bottom edge of the last as a guide edge.

The line which is indicated at 18 at the bottom of the last represents the edge of the upper leather extending over the edge of the last. A strip indicated generally at 2%) and referred to as a binder strip, may be of leather, plastic or the like. This strip is provided with cement applied thereto at one side as at 22, the other side being a finished side as at 24. The finished side 24 is provided with a cemented, stitched-on or embossed ornamental strip 26. Strip 26 can be braided or embossed in any way to imitate the skin stitch, or in fact any other kind of decorative effect may be applied thereto. The point is that the decorative strip 26 is located at one edge of the binder strip; and when the binder strip is applied by hand or by machine as the case may be, to the Wall of the last which has been roughened as at 16, the strip finds a guide line along the edge of the roughened area so that the ornamental strip 26 is provided as an exact even and measured distance from the bottom of the last of the shoe and therefore the ornamentation is not Wavy or inaccurate but is applied in a smooth decorative line as shown, exactly evenly placed from the bottom edge of the last. The edge portion 28 of strip 22 extends slightly under the edge of the last.

The welt 14 is then applied in the usual manner as by stitching through the welt, upper leather, and the sewing rib, but of course in this case the binder strip is also stitched in as Well. Hence, the decorative strip 26 is located evenly with respect to the welt. In order to terminate the decorative strip, the binder strip may be merely smoothly run into the shank portion and off the last as shown in FIG. 2, and either the strip is originally cut to size or the remainder is trimmed.

By the use of the strip above described, the ornamental portion is fastened down better than where merely a narrow ornamental strip is used, and it is pointed out that there are stress areas where the shoe flexes in use coinciding with some of the ornamented area. After lasting, there is no strain on the upper leather in subsequent manufacturing operations. It is pointed out that if the strip were put on prior to the lasting operations, then the leather would distort during the lasting operations and the strip would be stretched out of position.

It is well known in the art of shoe making that any ornamentation applied to the upper before lasting (particularly low along the Wall of the last) has always been a problem in machine lasting operations of pulling over, side lasting and toe lasting. Due to variations of stretch in upper leathers, it is extremely dilficult to keep the ornamentation from distortion and to maintain an even line along the last. Much subsequent hand work has to be performed in the lasting room to correct this wavering line.

By the use. of the new method of applying the decora-. tive strip after the lasting operations are performed, the lasting department is able to mass produce this shoe at a substantial saving due to the elimination of hand lasting and the so-calledcobbling operations.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what Iclaim is: Y e i 1. The method of providing a lasted shoe with an ornamental strip in a certain desired location' comprising roughening a strip along the upper adjacent the bottom of thelast while utilizing the edge of the last as a guide to provide a uniform width for the roughened strip, providing a separate flexible elongated strip of material having one decorative edge portion, cementing said separate strip to said roughened strip on the upper, and utilizing thetroughened strip as a guide by which the decorative edge is located along a line evenly measured from the edge of thelast, and lastly applying a welt strip to the upper concealing the edge portion of the separate strip opposite fronithe decorative edge thereof.

:2. The method of applying a decorative strip to the upper of a shoe on a last comprising first the provision of an elongated separate flexible strip, applying an ornamentation to said strip along one edge portion only thereof, cementing said strip to the upper on the last about a desired portion thereof along the bottom of the last as; an edgev with the ornamentation on the upper, and applying a welt strip covering the opposite unornamented edge portion of the strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNIT ED STATES PATENTS 809,622 Moulton Jan. 9, 1906 1,199,862 Battreall- Oct. 3, 1916 1,597,874 Arnold Aug. 31, 1926 1,706,625 Lyon Mar. 26, 1929 1,735,457 Gilson Nov. 12, 1929. 2,112,142 Cohen ...i Mar. 22, 1938 2,168,948 Allen .1-.. Aug. 8, 1939 2,312,527 Cutler -2 Mar. 2, 1943 2,385,554 Stratton Sept. 25, 1945, 2,426,267 Hart Aug. 26, 1947 2,621,349 Binder Dec. 16, 1952 2,876,469 Rubico Mar. 10,1959

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,049,929 France Aug. 26, 1953 

1. THE METHOD OF PROVIDING A LASTED SHOE WITH AN ORNAMENTAL STRIP IN A CERTAIN DESIRED LOCATION COMPRISING ROUGHENING A STRIP ALONG THE UPPER ADJACENT THE BOTTOM OF THE LAST WHILE UTILIZING THE EDGE OF THE LAST AS A GUIDE TO PROVIDE A UNIFORM WIDTH FOR THE ROUGHENED STRIP, PROVIDING A SEPARATE FLEXIBLE ELONGATED STRIP OF MATERIAL HAVING ONE DECORATIVE EDGE PORTION, CEMENTING SAID SEPARATE STRIP TO SAID ROUGHENED STRIP ON THE UPPER, AND UTILIZING THE ROUGHENED STRIP AS A GUIDE BY WHICH THE DECORATIVE EDGE IS LOCATED ALONG A LINE EVENLY MEASURED FROM THE EDGE OF THE LAST, AND LASTLY APPLYING A WELT STRIP TO THE UPPER CONCEALING THE EDGE PORTION OF THE SEPARATE STRIP OPPOSITE FROM THE DECORATIVE EDGE THEREOF. 